Russian Crew Member Dies on Ukrainian Ship

It looks like the Somalian pirates have finally grabbed the attention of the mainstream media. The New York Times has the latest on the Ukrainian ship. Lets examine some of this carefully.

Tensions increased Sunday over what to do about the arms-carrying cargo ship hijacked off the coast of Somalia, as the pirates vowed to fight to the death, a hostage died and Somali officials urged the American Navy to send in commandos.

Sounds tough, but a quick check into the history of Somalian piracy reveals there is no evidence that pirates 'fight to the death.' Indeed the evidence is they flee for their lives, suggesting they do not see glory in death.

The man said he was speaking on a satellite phone from the bridge of the hijacked Ukrainian ship, and to prove it, he handed the phone to another man who said he was the captain. The captain, a Ukrainian, then told the BBC that a Russian crew member had died from hypertension.

Not good. Eagle1 suggests I could be assuming too much when I suggest Russia would probably take military action against Somalian pirates. I don't think so, for Russia the deployment of a ship has a purpose, and it isn't to be a coalition partner. There will be an incident somewhere and plenty of photography to prove it, Putin will have his headline. No doubt this new headline, the death of a Russian citizen in the hands of pirates, shapes the necessity for a new, positive headline for the Russian leadership in the future.

American military officials said that they were closely watching the ship but that there were no plans to raid it.

“We’re deeply concerned about what’s aboard, as well as the safety of the crew,” said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain. “We’re hoping the arms don’t make it to shore.”

The article notes the Somalian ministers are calling for an American raid, but a raid is unlikely. The presence of the USS Howard (DDG 83) is almost certainly specific to preventing the unloading of cargo to Somalia.

There does appear to be some confusion regarding the actual demanded ransom of the ship by the pirates holding her. The Associated Press, as reported in this Navy Times article, suggests the ransom is $20 million for the ship. The LA Times is suggesting the ransom is $35 million. The latest reports suggest the figure is $5 million. The New York Times article quotes some western diplomat in Kenya suggesting that no ransom will be paid given how much attention has been given the hijacking. In the same article a western diplomat suggests there is no other option. Because the safest way to release the ship and the crew is to pay the ransom, the various reports regarding ransom totals probably reflect a point in time during negotiations. When the number drops to around $2 million, ransom will be paid.

According to this report out of China, even after the ship is released it still may be seized, as there are questions whether the ship is violating a UN weapons embargo to the Sudan.

Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program said on Sunday the Somali pirates claim to be in possession of confidential documents showing that the arms were actually destined for southern Sudan and not Kenya.

Mwangura said that the hijacked ship-MV Faina was ferrying the fourth such consignment from Ukrainian to southern Sudan.

"One of the cargo arrived at the port of Mombasa in October last year, two in February this year. The seized load of 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and some ammunition was the fourth cargo with military equipment for southern Sudan," Mwangura told Xinhua by telephone on Sunday.

As we have mentioned many times before, the pirates claim themselves as legitimate by suggesting they act in the role of a Coast Guard for Somalia. If it turns out true there is some form of illegal HAZMAT on the Iranian ship seized, and the T-72s on the Ukrainian ship were indeed intended for the Sudan, the irony is both of these two seizures would be two of the most impressive Coast Guard style interdiction's in the region, including the legitimate Coast Guards of regional nations. You can't make this up...

Just to highlight the hell hole that region of sea is for the US Navy, the Washington Post has another article about a disaster in the human smuggling trade taking place between Somalia and Yemen, with 52 dead from a total 123 who were abandoned at sea by the smugglers, and spent 18 days adrift in the middle of the Gulf of Aden.

The Ukrainians are simply not in a position to send a naval vessel down to address this incident, indeed the absence of effective naval capability by the Ukraine is what has allowed this ship to captured, due to lack of escort, in the first place. The Russians have sent their frigate, but the ship deployed from the Baltic Sea, and will take awhile to arrive on station. It will be interesting to see where the Russians get logistics from, because the options are the US, France, Britain, or Germany unless the Russians deploy oilers from the Black Sea.

There have been three ships released from Somalian pirates over the last few days. The Earth Times is reporting the Malaysian oil tanker was released for $2 million ransom. Also released were Japanese and Egyptian ships, both of which were released due to ransoms of $2.0 and $1.5 million paid respectively. All crew members of all three ships are safe.

With events happening quickly, it is likely this entire incident will be over before the Russian Navy arrives.